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The Guardian had an article up about men
with messenger
bags – I refuse to call them ‘manbags’ – Although I just did. Damn. They
ask five people ranging from Topman’s design director to NME’s editor about
what’s in their bags, what make their bag is and how they feel about the term ‘manbag’.

If you like the nautical look but don’t
want to look like you’re in fancy dress, you may be reticent about buying boat
shoes. So why not go halfway and get these boat shoe inspired Paul
Smith trainers?

Topman has perfected the art of online retailing. Constantly changing and adding to their list of online sub-stores, there is a separate store for denim, t-shirts and even summerwear. The latest addition to the website is the Dynamic Denim feature. An essential to every man’s wardrobe, see after the jump for my pick of the label’s latest denim lovelies.

From Marc Jacobs to Topman, McQ to Uniqlo, short shorts have undoubtedly secured their place as the menswear item of the season – and possibly the year. If I said they needed an adopter than we at Brandish are basically an orphanage. We have given you examples of short shorts in a spectrum of colours, fabrics and prints and Jason even took it to a political platform!

Cheap Monday look set to keep on branching
out with their KOSTYM
range. Featuring suits, trench coats and the ubiquitous check shirt, the
detailing on the items is what they’re hoping will set them apart. The asymmetrical
buttoning on the trench coats is similar to 70’s leather jackets and the suits
are very slim fit.

Although we do enjoy talking about short
shorts, there are alternatives. If you,
like 99.9% of the population, hate ¾ shorts but don’t want shorts that can be overlapped
by your boxers, then these Topman
tailored shorts could be the answer.

Topman have a half price sale on so now’s the time to nab yourself some summer bargains. Their check shirt we featured as part of our Chris Taylor madras shirt picks is down to £18 and the geo print polo shirt will perk up your wardrobe in no time.

Recently, my colleague Jason posted on t-shirts from Raw Power that featured celebrities with painted faces and mug-shot style profiles. Now, Topman has picked up on the look and began creating copies for prices more attractive to shoppers.

“You were on my mind at least nine tenths of yesterday, it seemed as if perhaps I’d gone insane. What is it about you that has commandeered my brain? Maybe it’s your…” Kimya Dawson’s brilliant lyrics ring through my head as I realise that it appears I have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than listen to the Juno soundtrack (heads up my friends,) and appear pensive and philosophical while typing away at my laptop. That is until you know what is causing me so much mental frustration- I am deciding upon my ‘theory’ (as labelled by Jason and furthered by Isabelle) regarding the devious short shorts trend.

With the whole purple thing taking off pretty
slowly, now’s as good as ever to buy into it. They’re won’t be many people
wearing it and you’ll avoid Topman syndrome – as in you won’t leave the store
seeing six people wearing the same item you just bought. What more could you ask
for?

This is becoming absurd, not to mention extremely frustrating to read about. Vogue.co.uk reports that MAN designer James Long has had his autumn/winter 2008-9 collection stolen. The young designer suffered at the hands of thieves a mere hours after his show took place last Friday. We reviewed the MAN show earlier in the week.

The thing with Topman is that it’s too
popular for its own good. Buy a jacket from the Oxford Circus branch and you’ll
have passed five people wearing the same jacket before you get to the tube
station. The Topman design branch aims
to redress this problem by issuing much smaller quantities of pieces.

The time has come for the return of the eccentric dresser. But before you all stop reading this, firm in the belief that I have finally cracked, I promise that I am not subliminally feeding you pages from ‘An Idiot’s Guide to … being an idiot’ but instead providing you with an outfit that will allow you to get freaky without the raised eyebrows- more crinkled blazer than straight-jacket.

Don’t underestimate the power of socks.
Okay, it’s not like they can put you in a chokehold or anything – but they can
ruin a perfectly put together outfit. Match your Nike running socks with a pair
of shoes and you’ll look like you get style tips from Larry David, regardless
of well dressed you are. Put it this way; if you have a brown pair of shoes,
you need these Paul
Smith socks.

Jazz it up with this Topman hoodie with graphic print and shiny foil bits. The ’90s style bubbles and squiggles look quite nu-ravey, but it will add some pep to a standard grey trousers and neat trainer combo.